Accessing the internet is for many Americans now a multiplatform affair. Just a few years ago, the desktop or laptop computers were typical onramps to the internet for the tech-oriented crowd. The digerati, already accustomed to lugging their laptops around in search of ports for their Ethernet cables, rushed to equip them with wireless cards so they could take advantage of WiFi links to the net.

Today, the wireless router at home is the center of an untethered online access experience for many Americans that revolves around a range of devices that connect to the internet. The laptop, gaming console, or handheld device may all be connected and in use at once. That’s only the tip of the iceberg for wireless access. Wherever Americans can find a wireless network, whether it is WiFi or one provided by a cell phone carrier, many are apt to take advantage of it for a tweet, text, or information nugget.

This report examines how Americans are accessing the internet by wireless means using a range of devices – such as the laptop computer, the handheld device, the gaming console, or e-book reader. It will also update Pew data from a December 2007 survey on mobile access to data and information on a cell or Smartphone.